


Discrepancy

by dNwfvBj9



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Accomplice Ending (Persona 4), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15601782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dNwfvBj9/pseuds/dNwfvBj9
Summary: The Inaba serial murder case remains unsolved by the time Yu leaves for the city. Yosuke tries to pick up the pieces.The aftermath of the Accomplice Ending from Yosuke's POV.





	Discrepancy

The Inaba serial murder case remains unsolved by the time Yu leaves for the city. Yosuke feels, no, he _knows_ the Investigation Team is missing a key detail, some piece of information that will crack the case wide open, but nothing solid comes out of all the thinking they do.

Without Yu, morale lowers, and the remaining members of the Investigation Team distance themselves from each other. Rise returns to the city to make her comeback as an idol while Naoto leaves to seek new cases to solve. Chie engrosses herself in studying to achieve her dream of becoming a police officer. Yukiko and Kanji devote themselves to the Amagi Inn and Tatsumi Textiles respectively. One day, Teddie goes into the TV and doesn't come back out.

Yosuke's the only one left to pick up the fragments of the case.

* * *

Yosuke remembers Yu's expression as he boarded the train, remembers the mournful look in his eyes and the way he hesitated before saying goodbye, as if he had something else to say instead. He is sure that his partner knows something important about the case, might even know something about the murderer, but when he calls Yu to ask, it's a brief and hurried conversation that tells him nothing. Yosuke doesn't miss the way Yu's voice shakes as he hangs up, like he's hiding a secret more dangerous than anything in the world.

They speak a few more times, but Yu never takes the initiative to call him and eventually Yosuke stops calling.

* * *

Has Adachi's presence increased? The detective seems to be everywhere in the fog covered town, and Yosuke runs into him in the Central Shopping District, on the Flood Plain, in Junes, even loitering near the doors of Yasogami High. Adachi seems more competent than he's ever been and comports himself with a cheer so natural, it's almost false.

Sometimes he buys cheap cabbage and watered down beer from Junes and makes it a point to queue at whichever station Yosuke's the cashier. There's a glint in his eye that suggests a joke Yosuke isn't in on, and his cheerful goodbyes seem more taunting than anything else.

* * *

Like Yosuke, Dojima doesn't move on from the case. The housewives at Junes whisper rumours that he can't accept Namatame's guilt, and Yosuke sees him stumbling through the streets of Inaba, seeking the true culprit but finding nothing in the fog. It occurs to him to tell Dojima the truth, to put his hand through the television in the police station and show him the TV World.

He tries on a rainy afternoon and gets as far as the word "TV" before the sound of ceramic shattering ends their conversation. Adachi stands behind them with a pool of spilled coffee by his feet and a sheepish grin on his face.

Dojima's red faced and yelling, Adachi's apologizing, and Yosuke leaves the police station with shoulders slumped. Despite being careful to avoid the shards of Adachi's mug, one piece pricks him through his shoe. 

* * *

On his next visit to the station, Yosuke's told that Dojima's too busy with paperwork to see him. Instead, Adachi offers to hear him out, but the amused glint in his eye compels Yosuke to refuse, wary that Adachi's simply humouring him. As he leaves, Yosuke doesn't notice the yellow eyes that follow his back.

When he gets home, his calls to the Investigation Team go unanswered.

* * *

The fog has become so thick that when Yosuke holds his arm out in front of himself, he can barely see his own hand. People start going missing, a long list of names that Yosuke's certain he should recognize but doesn't. Yet the residents of Inaba act as if the missing never existed to begin with, and life in town continues as normal.

_The Amagi Inn never had a heiress._

_Tatsumi Textiles is run by a childless old woman._

_Risette and the Detective Prince are urban legends._

_There's no such person as Chie Satonaka._

Yosuke feels like he's losing his mind and it's chalked up to fog induced madness.

* * *

Dojima disappears one day, and if he looks hard enough, Yosuke can make out the outline of a man hanging on the telephone poles.

Adachi takes over as lead detective of the Inaba police department and of course, no investigation occurs.

* * *

He notices the eyes first. Yellow eyes, it seems everyone in Inaba is sporting yellow eyes now. When did they start, how has Yosuke never noticed before, and does he sport a pair too? A quick glance in the mirror confirms that his eyes are still the same brown as always.

But the glasses he wore in the TV World, he can't remember where he put them.

* * *

The gas station attendant smiles and wishes him better luck next time. They shake hands and Yosuke finds he can't enter the TV World anymore.

* * *

One day, Yosuke looks into a mirror to see his Shadow reflected back. His Shadow smiles and he can feel the corners of his own mouth pulling up too.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if there are spelling/grammar/formatting issues. I get the feeling these things slip by me more often than I think.


End file.
